Saturday’s Fostering Blog
On Saturday we planned a barbecue at our house to celebrate mine and Charlie’s birthday. We both have birthdays in the same month so it makes sense to do something together. It was a very belated 40th birthday party. When I say belated, it is belated by over a year!! Last year I had hoped we could celebrate but at a time when we could have celebrated we were in the midst of moving house, Charlie starting a new job, Annie starting a new school, homeschooling Lauren and Alice, and going through the obstacle of a school appeal for Lauren’s school place. We just didn’t have the energy to throw a party. In fact there was very little chance to have any celebrations at all.
So this year with life a bit more settled, we decided it would be a good opportunity to get friends and family together who we haven’t seen for some time. Some of which have not yet been to see us in our new home – so it was a great time to get everyone together. All we had to do was to organise the food and hope and pray for good weather. My great aunt and mother-in-law would be staying overnight to “help” and the rest of the guests were travelling from near and far.
My lovely friend Lucie over the road helped in the planning. She organised her husband to bring two event shelters for our garden, should the weather take a turn for the worse. She made to side dishes as well as two separate deserts. But most helpfully and thoughtfully, she collected Lauren and Alice from school the night before, gave them tea and brought them home at bedtime – this enabled me to get the house ready and lots of food prepared.
The forecast had not been great so we were very pleasantly surprised to find the day so lovely. The sun was out in full strength, which meant the event shelters became a necessary shade. My friend from our old neighbourhood came and collected Alice for the morning on the day, to give us time to set up and greet our guests without the drama that usually accompanies Alice when things aren’t centred around her. We got to enjoy the company of those who had come before she returned. Everyone got on and everyone enjoyed good company and good food. Alice joined us later in the afternoon and quite helpfully most of our friends made a fuss of her which helped her to feel at the centre of the party. For once there were no dramas, no hiccups, just a pleasant party where we could celebrate our special birthday. Here’s to the next occasion we get to celebrate!!
A Less Ordinary Family Foster Care Blog
